At the start Schumacher made a poor beginning and both Coulthard and Irvine got ahead. As he tried to repass Irvine at Stowe Corner Michael went off, bounced across the sandtrap and hit the wall very hard head-on. The Ferrari chassis broke in the impact and although Schumacher suffered a broken leg it also meant that more of the impact was absorbed by the car. The race was stopped.

When it was restarted Irvine got ahead of Coulthard but Hakkinen was unchallenged at the front. At the pit stops however both Hakkinen and Irvine hit trouble: Mika coming back because he felt that he had a wheel loose and Irvine missing his marks because the McLaren crew was in the pitlane. This meant that Eddie rejoined behind Coulthard who had already pitted. Soon afterwards Hakkinen's car lost a wheel. He drove to the pits for a new one but eventually had to stop because of safety worries. Something was wrong with the McLaren's hub.